Something Short of Disaster
by zooloochick15
Summary: Sam is attacked. What is to become of her relationship with Luka now? Chapter 6 is up.
1. A Day that Started Out Normal

**Title:** "Something Short of Disaster"  
**Ratings:** PG (for minor language)  
**Spoilers:** none.  
**Disclaimer:** I own nothing. Except the patients. Dr. Nelson was working in pysch with Abby, he was her resident. Remember him, motorcycle boy? Yeah, I'm almost sure it was him.  
**Author's Note:** I really love this story. I must tell you that. I love Sam, I really love Luka, and since Alex isn't a terror in this, I like him too. In fact, Alex is barely in it at all. Yah!  
**Summary:** What is to become of Sam's life and her relationship with Luka after this? Read and find out!

Part I  
It started out just like any other day. Sam woke up to the sound of her snooze alarm going off for the third time.

"Damn! Alex, where are you? We're late; we have to leave for school like now!"

Sam raced into the bathroom and put on some dirty jeans and a t-shirt, and brushed her teeth. She ran back to Alex's room to hurry him along. But Alex wasn't there. Sam went back to the living room, and then to the kitchen; there was still no Alex. Just when she was about to loose it, she heard the apartment door open. Someone was leaving.

"Sam, Alex is already in the car, I'm taking him to school. See you later."

"Okay." Sam smiled to herself as he left.

"Aww, he's just so great like that." She smiled as she went back to her room and take a shower to get ready for her shift.

The ER was busy as usual. Abby, Carter and Pratt were on, along with Sam. Abby was handling about 10 patients, and not very well. She was still getting used to being the doctor and the one in charge.

"Hey Sam, my guy with the facial fracture needs more Demerol. Can you give him another 25 milligrams?"

"Yeah, sure. I just have to check vitals on the MVA victim in Trauma 1 and call surgery again to come get her."

"Fine, Jerry is something coming in?"

"Yeah, a 20 year old female, victim of an attack ETA is three minutes."

"Okay, tell Carter I'll meet him in the bay." Three minutes later Carter and Abby were opening the back doors of the ambulance.

"Tara James, 20, victim of an attack by an unidentified male in his 20s. BP is 130/90, pulse 100, and pulse-ox is 95. She has bruises to the head, face, chest and abdomen. She's also been very distraught since we picked her up. There's also a probable fracture to the right upper extremity, with sharp tenderness to touch." Abby smiled at Tara, who had obviously been crying.

"You're safe now, is there someone we can call for you?"

"No, I go to U of I, Chicago, but my family lives in Pennsylvania. I don't want them to come all the way out here if it's not that bad."

They wheeled Tara into Trauma 2, and Carter listened to her lungs. "Breath sounds are clear. Let's get a CBC, UA, chest x-ray, head CT, abdominal CT, pelvis x-ray, and films for her right arm. Abby I think you can handle this one, call me if you need me." Carter started to leave, but then turned back to Abby.

"Don't forget to review all the films and CTs through me."

"Okay, so, Tara, can you tell me what happened?"

"I had just gotten off the El, on my way back to the campus, and this guy came out of nowhere. He grabbed me from behind and beat me in the head chest and stomach. I could barely breath but I was able to fend him off somewhat."

Abby looked around and then went to close the door that adjoined the two trauma rooms.

"Did he rape you?"

"No, I'm sure of it. He tried to, because he went for my jeans' button, but I was able to grab the maze out of my purse in time to spray him in the eyes so I could get away. He did not rape me."

A little while later, the films were back. "Well Tara, I went over the x-rays and CTs with Dr. Carter, and your pelvis is fine, your facial bones are okay, and so is your abdomen. But you do have a contusion to the head; do you know what that is?"

"Like a concussion?"

"Sort of, but it's not as bad. It's just a really bad bruise to the head. You'll be fine in a few days. You can take IB Profin for the pain. And you shouldn't be surprised that you have a right forearm fracture. I'll put on a cast and you'll wear that for the next 6 weeks. Okay?"

"Yeah."

Seven hours later Sam was on her way home. She was just walking down the street, not knowing that it was very close to where Tara was attacked. Sam could see the apartment from where she was and then all of a sudden things went black. Someone had put their hand over her eyes and picked her up. Someone was kidnapping her.


	2. Time to Get Worried

Part II  
It was just after seven and Luka was still sleeping. Alex crept in, looking for Sam, and then woke up Luka in a hurry when he saw she wasn't in the bed with him.

"Luka, where's my mom?"

"Huh? What are you talking about? She's right- Sam?"

"Alex, where is your mother?"

"Would I be standing here if I knew the answer to that question Luka?"

"Uhh, okay. I'll call the ER, maybe they got slammed and she's on OT." He picked up the phone and dial, and then looked at Alex. "Hey! As soon as I hang up were going to school, so I think you should put some clothes on."

"Okay." Alex turned and sulked out of the room.

"Hey Frank, is Sam working still?" … "No? Okay, thanks." Luka got out of bed in a flash.

"Alex!" Alex was struggling to pull a shirt over his head, and running to see what Luka wanted the same time.

"Yeah? Did you find my mom?"

"No, do you have any idea where she might be?"

"No, she always comes home after work."

Luka acknowledged that with a nod. "I'll meet you in the car in five minutes."

Luka dropped Alex off, and then went straight to County. He pulled into the ambulance, and was relived to see Carter out there, waiting on an ambulance.

"Carter! Have you seen Sam? She didn't come home last night!"

"No, she left around eight or nine last night. When did you last talk to her?"

"Yesterday morning, she was gonna be home around nine and the two of us were going to share a pizza and a movie with Alex. Do you know where she might be?"

"No, sorry. Ask around, and if no one knows, you should call the police."

"Yeah, thanks." Luka basically ran through the ER looking for Sam in every room and corner.

"Susan, have you seen or heard from Sam since she left last night?"

"No, why?"

"I can't find her! She never came home and I'm going crazy. Alex is worried too."

They had reason to be worried. Sam was in a motel bathroom, alone. She was still blindfolded and her kidnapper wrapped her arms around the base of the toilet and handcuffed her wrists. "This can't be happening!" She sighed heavily.

"But it is. Why couldn't he just kill me? That would be less traumatic for everyone. Yeah, Luka and Alex would be devastated but they'd get past it." Sam was silent, as the doorknob slowly turned. He walked in, taking light footsteps.

"Hey, beautiful."

"What do you want, haven't you hurt me enough?"

"You shouldn't be hurting. I love you baby." She couldn't see his smug grin.

"I am not your baby. Don't call me that."

"Why, didn't you have fun last night?"

"No, rape isn't something you enjoy!"

"I'm sorry. Maybe you'll enjoy this!" He started kicking her, punching her, smacking her face. Sam was crying and bleeding with in seconds. He was hurting her in every way possible.

"Please stop, I'm begging you!"

He kicked her in the stomach and chest and then stopped cold. "See, I'm sure you think me having my way with you is more fun then that?"

"No!"

He crouched down and kissed her cheek.

"Well, if you aren't having a good time then you can leave." He pulled the handcuff keys out of his pocket and freed her. The he picked Sam up and put her outside the motel room door. "I hope you enjoy being alone."

And that she was. Sam was all alone, wearing only a big t-shirt and some underwear. Sam didn't know what to do or where to turn. So she just lay on the ground, crying.

"I can't believe he raped me."

Luka was frantic back in the city. He still didn't know where Sam was. In fact no one knew. She has just disappeared. The police had come and reminded the ER staff that they cared for a woman who was attacked on the same route Sam walked to get from the El to her apartment. This enraged Luka. "We have to find her. I need her, Alex needs her. If he did anything to her, then he better be ready to die. Because that's what's gonna happen to him the second I get my hands on him!"

He stormed out of the hospital, leaving everyone present shaking, Abby especially. "I think we all want this guy dead." Carter looked to Abby and then out to Luka. He was outside pacing and cursing.

"Don't worry Abby; he is officially ER Enemy Number 1."


	3. There's Good News And Bad News

Part III  
She was delirious from fever and dehydration. Sam didn't know how much longer she would last. But then she saw something beautiful in the distance. It was…a house.

"Oh, God. I'm saved!"

She walked to it, grabbing this and that along the way to keep herself up. She knocked on the door, praying silently for someone to be there. And as if on cue, a woman appeared. "Can I help you?"

"Yes, I need you to take me to the hospital."

The woman, Mrs. Brown, took Sam by the arm and led her to the car.

"Don't worry, you'll be fine." They drove for a little while and somewhere in between lying on the plush seat and enjoying the feel of the air-conditioner, Sam drifted off to sleep. But she really drifted into unconsciousness.

The ER was no busier then normal, but patients were stacking up because no one felt much like working. They all wondered and worried about Sam. Where was she? Who took her? What did they do to her? And nobody even hazard to guess the answer to that last one, even though they all had a pretty good idea of what had happened to her. Just then a woman, about 40 ran into the ER. Nobody recognized her; she didn't have any special value to anyone in the ER.

"I'm looking for the ER."

Carter tended to her, even though he had plenty of work to be doing.

"You found it. How can I help you?"

"A woman knocked on my door at home and asked me to bring her to County. She looked as if she was beaten or attacked, or worse. She's out cold now, and she needs help."

Carter immediately knew it was Sam and snapped into action. "Abby! Come help me in the bay and page Luka 9-1-1."

Luka was at home, lying in the empty bed, staring at the clock. He wanted to know exactly how many days and hours he would spend missing her and praying for her safe recovery. And he practically jumped out of bed when his pager went off, killing the silence. He picked it up. "Found Sam, come ASAP." He flew out of the room in a heartbeat, and ran to his car. Alex was right behind him.

"Luka, what happened? Is it my mom?"

"We'll find out when we get there. Get in!" They got in the car and raced off to County.

Carter had finished the initial exam, and had found only minor injuries. Abby was there and was putting the hospital gown on her when some bruises on Sam's legs caught her attention.

"Carter, can I speak to you about the tests we should order?"

"Yeah, be right back, Sam." They went into the hall.

"We should get a CBC, UA, chest x-ray; head CT, films of the right hand, wrist, arm and elbow. And she needs some Morphine for the pain."

"Okay, sounds good, Abby. Is that all you wanted? Because you could have said it in front of her."

"No, she has bruises to her inner thighs. She may have been raped, and I doubt she would want you to do the exam. I'll ask her and I'll need a nurse to assist me. Okay Carter?"

Carter couldn't imagine someone as strong as Sam being so weak that some sick bastard would be able to rape her, without her killing him first.

"Fine, I'll get someone."

Abby went back in and pulled a stool right up next to the bed where Sam was lying, looking more vulnerable then ever.

"Sam, I really hate to have to ask but, were you raped?"

"Yes, but I was dumped by my rapist two days ago, and have been to the bathroom since then, so you won't find evidence against him. But I suppose checking for STDs and other injury is a good idea."

Abby smiled and touched her friend's shoulder sympathetically.

Luka and Alex ran to Admit, in demand for information.

"Frank, where's Sam, how is she, is she even alive? Tell me now!"

"Calm down, Kovac. Carter and Abby are taking good care of her. Carter went to get her films from Radiology, but he should be back down soon."

Luka looked at him as if he hadn't said anything at all. He didn't care that Carter was getting her films, he wanted to see Sam, and he wanted to see her now. Frank was a bit intimidated by the fury in Luka's eyes.

"Look, there's Carter now!"

Luka turned and grabbed Carter by the arm. "Where is she? How is she?"

"She's alright. Her head CT was negative, but her arms films show a wrist fracture in need of closed reduction, and cracks to her forearm elbow, and a tiny fracture in her hand just below the ring finger. That's the good news."

Carter tried to smile as he watched Luka's jaw drop.

"The good news? What's the bad news?" He said that with fear in his voice. He was almost positive of what Carter was going to say. "Was she umm….you know?"

Carter looked at him and said nothing, but his silence said everything. "I'm sorry, Luka. Abby's getting cultures and checking for other injury now. But she says it happened two days ago, so there's nothing to prove of who did it."

He saw Luka's fists ball up, and his head nearly explode with rage and hate for Sam's attacker, but he couldn't get angry now. He needed to see Sam with his own eyes. Alex needed to know that his mother was alive, and okay. Luka wouldn't rest until he could hold and comfort the woman he loved.

The two men went back to the door of Exam 4, where Sam was resting now. Abby walked out, releasing a heavy and sad sigh as she went. Carter knew that that was a tough thing that Abby just did, it was always tough when it's someone you know, someone you care about.

"How is she Abby?"

"Asleep. But when she was awake she was just short of hysterical. She couldn't stop crying. I took the cultures and we should have the results in 30 minutes or so. There didn't seem to be any other injuries. You can go in if you want Luka. She's been asking for you."

All of the lights were out except for a lamp in a far corner of the room. Luka walked over slowly, as to not startle her.

"Sam, are you awake?"

There was no answer. Her back was facing him, as she lay still in bed. He went to the other side, and saw her face. There were cuts and scrapes. Stitches were in her forehead. Her right arm was extended from the bed, and splinted. The wrist fracture still needed reduction. He grazed her face with his big, soft hand.

"Its okay, Sam. I'm here and I won't let anything else happen to you. Just know that I will always love you."

He pulled up and chair and sat down. After hours of not being able to rest he suddenly struggled to keep his eyes open. He quickly leaned in and lightly kissed Sam on her cheek and the leaned back and closed his eyes to try and get some sleep.


	4. Luka's Feeling Helpless

Part IV  
Hours went by, and soon he felt someone trying to wake him. "Luka?"

"Huh? What's wrong?"

"Nothing, it's just me, Carter. They have a bed upstairs for Sam; she's being admitted to Medicine. But only for a day or two."

Suddenly Sam woke up in a panic.

"I have to get out! I have to go, I need to get away!"

Luka and Carter tried to hold her down, but she thrashed around and escaped their hold.

"Sam! Wait, don't leave!"

Luka tired to get a hold of her arms, but she was running wildly. She ran down the hallway towards Admit, and Carter and Luka chased after her.

"No, don't touch me! GO AWAY!"

Luka finally managed to get a firm grip on her left arm. She tried to get away again, but crumbled to the floor in tears instead.

"Stop, please stop." She begged him sobbing between words.

Luka held her tight, trying to make her feel safe. "Shh, it's okay. You're safe."

He kissed her cheek and smoothed her hair as Carter cam over with a syringe of Valium to calm her.

"It's alright Sam, after this shot, you'll feel fine."

He smiled. Her crying became softer as her eyes slowly closed and she went to sleep in Luka's arms. He put her back in bed and they wheeled her upstairs.

She slept for several more hours, and just after sunrise, Susan stopped by for a visit.

"How is she Luka?"

"Sedated, she woke up in the ER agitated and manic. Carter gave her some Valium. They reduced her fractured wrist and brought her up here. She'll sleep for a couple more hours. I haven't really talked to her yet. I'm, not even sure she'll want to talk. She went through a horrible thing."

"Yeah, but you'll have to get through it somehow. Both of you, it affects you too, and Alex. You just have to love her, and support her, and help her in whatever ways she'll let you help her." She looked at her watch and rolled her eyes. "I have to go, Weaver's gonna have my head if I'm late again. I'll try to come by again when she's feeling up to having visitors."

"Thanks Susan. I'll tell her you were here."

Sam awoke about two hours later, sore and confused.

"Luka?" She couldn't speak above a whisper.

Luka was right there, standing next to her bed. "I'm here Sam. Is something wrong?"

"I…it hurts."

"What hurts, your head, your arm? Tell me."

She just looked at him with tears in her eyes. Sam opened her mouth to say something, but then changed her mind and stayed quite. Luka smiled kindly.

"Never mind, we can talk later. Do you want to eat?"

"No. I just want to lay here and think."

"Okay. I'm gonna go get some coffee; do you want anything at all?"

"No."

He bent down to kiss her, but she just turned away.

"Bye Luka."

Luka felt completely crushed, but he understood. "I'll be back in a little while."

He went down to the ER. Everyone was working, getting back to life as usual. It was as if they didn't know or care that Sam was up there, cutting herself off from the whole world. He wanted her to feel better, but Luka knew that there was nothing he or anyone else could do to make her pain go away in an instant. He went into the lounge and got some coffee. Carter was there.

"Hey Luka. How is Sam doing?"

"As well as can be expected. She woke up a little while ago."

"That's good."

Luka laughed, reflecting on how not good their conversation had gone. "She umm, she didn't want to eat, or talk to me. So I wouldn't exactly call it good. I don't want to push at her, but I can't just let her wither away. I want to help her get past this."

"I would love to be able to tell you what to do, but we both know that I suck at being a caring, bruiting boyfriend. It's not really my strong suit."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Have you seen Abby around?"

"Yeah, she took a head lack down to Sutures."

"Thanks Carter." And then Luka was off to find Abby.

He figured since Abby had been attacked a few years ago, she may be able to impart something to Sam to make her feel better. He didn't know what she could say, be there had to be something. Abby was just finishing the sutures when Luka came in.

"Okay Mr. Percy, you're done. Be careful with that cleaver in your butcher shop from now on."

"Okay, Dr. Lockhart, I'll try."

Abby smiled as he left, and saw Luka come in.

"Hey Luka, why aren't you up with Sam?"

"She doesn't really want my company now. I wanted to know if you could do me-I mean us, a favor."

"Like what?"

"She doesn't want to talk about it, or anything. I know she'll need some space, but I'm afraid that she'll never want to talk. And since you have been pretty close to being in her shoes, you could say something that would make her feel like talking to someone, anyone, about what happened."

"You know you can't rush it Luka. She went through the most horrible thing imaginable, and I think if I had gone through it, I would still be trying to get over it."

Luka threw his arms in the air, in frustration. "Thanks, Abby, that makes me feel loads better! Thinking that my wife-to-be is going to be emotionally damaged for years to come! That's great! Will you at least try to talk her, like maybe in a few days?"

"I guess. I'm not sure what good it'll do. But no matter what I say, it's still going to take a lot more then encouragement from me to get through this, and she won't even want to at first. And I know you want to be able to fix her right now, but itdoesn't happen like that. Just don't give up, and after a while, she'll come around."

He smiled and gave her a kiss on the forehead. "You're great!" Luka finally decided to go back up to Sam.


	5. This Is Almost As Bad

Part V  
Ten days later, Sam was at home. She had only stayed in the hospital for two nights, and had been at home for the past seven. People from the ER had sent get well cards and flowers, but she didn't feel like looking at them. Luka had sent Alex to stay with Oscar, his friend from school, a week ago. But for the past few days, he had called, asking when he could come home. He had a point; he had to come home eventually. Sam had been seen by a psychiatrist. They had talked, and he said that Sam was doing as well as can be expected. The emotional wounds from this would take a long time to heal. Luka had gotten up early to make Sam breakfast to eat in bed. It was French toast and eggs, her favorite. Sam had asked Luka to go back to his own place since she had gotten home. She stayed holed up in her bedroom all the time, and that worried Luka. Alex had only seen Sam once in 2 weeks, when he was getting clothes for staying at Oscar's. Sam didn't want to say something she'd regret to Alex, so she just told him she loved him and that she would see him soon. He was confused, his mom never turned away from him before, but she did say that she would see him soon, so Alex didn't think into it too much.

When the eggs were done, Luka scraped them onto the plate with the French toast, and knocked gently on Sam's bedroom door.

"Sam, I have some French toast for you to eat. Please open the door."

He had a pleading tone in his voice, and he didn't just want her to open the door in the literal sense. He wanted her to reopen the door of communication. They had been doing pretty good on that front, with only a few mishaps. Just then the door opened and Luka walked into to see Sam standing at the window. Her eyes were fixed on the people talking on the sidewalk across the street. Luka went up behind her and kissed her neck.

"Hi. Are you ready to eat?"

"No, I can't eat, I can't go out, I-I can barely breathe. Things are really bad Luka. I don't know how else to say it."

Luka was stunned. He didn't expect Sam to talk to him at all, let alone really talk about what's going on with her, like she just did.

"Just come and tell me whatever is on your mind."

"Luka, I was really scared when I was with that guy…that rapist. I thought he would kill me. But since he decided to rape me instead, I wish I had died. I can't go through this…again."

"What do you mean…again?"

Sam turned and spoke right to him, looking him dead in the eyes.

"It's really earth-shaking, like when I first found out I was pregnant at 15. I wasn't raped, but it was really hard to deal with. But after that, my family, just sort of, I don't know, checked out of reality. It's like we lived in a plastic bubble. My mom just cried all the time. She was so disappointed. My dad didn't talk to anyone, he just worked on his cars in the driveway, and nobody could talk to him. He wanted to kill me and Steve. My older sister stayed in her room, in disbelief that I was that dumb, and my younger sister was just caught in the middle of all the confusion. I was just out of the house I much as possible. I hung out with Steve. I guess we all could have handled it better, but we didn't. Every time I was at home, my parents never looked at me or talked to me. They acted like I was invisible. I know, even though they never said it, they thought that if they had done something differently, I wouldn't have gotten pregnant. It was my fault that my family fell apart, and now I'm to blame if we fall apart. I know I didn't ask to be raped, but I just keep thinking that I could have stopped it, somehow. "

Luka wrapped her up in a hug.

"Hey, there's no reason why this would make us fall apart. I don't love you any less."

Sam laughed at that. "Oh yeah, will you still say that after I tell you I'm pregnant?"

Luka looked at her and then fell back on the bed in shock.

"You're…what?"


	6. Seeking Help

Part VI

"I'm pregnant."

Sam just stood there, waiting several minutes for him to say something. Finally Luka had the strength to talk.

"Is there any possibility that you were pregnant before this happened?" "Not really. It's _his_ baby. I know they gave me meds in the hospital to try to prevent this from happening, but nothing is 100 effective."

Luka was in shock. He got up and grabbed his coat. "I'm going out. I'll be back later."

It was now pouring outside, but Luka didn't seem to care. Sam went back to the window in time to see Luka walking aimlessly down the street. She wanted to stop him; she wanted to hear that he still loved her. She wanted him to know that she still loved him.

"He needs some time. He gave me two weeks, I can give him some time and space now."

Luka was in a daze as he walked. He didn't know where he was going, or what he was doing. It had only been 5 years since his entire family was killed. He wasn't at all sure that he was ready to marry Sam and be a permanent father to Alex and a new baby. And this child wasn't even his. Luka knew that it wasn't Sam's fault, but it bothered him that he would be fathering two kids of Sam's that he had no biological ties to.

"Why this, why now, why us? DAMNIT!"

Luka didn't see someone watching him from across the street. She stood there in the rain, seeing his pain, almost feeling it radiate from him.

"Luka! What the hell are you doing!"

He turned and saw Abby, one of his closest and dearest friends. She would understand, maybe even help. He knew she would be there for him, and he didn't know what else to do. She crossed the street to talk to him.

"Why are you standing in the rain screaming?"

"I-I need-can we talk somewhere. I have to confide in someone."

"Luka, you know you can always tell me whatever's on your mind. Come on, let's go in where it's warm and dry."

A bit later, they were sitting at Ike's, talking. He had just told her, and she couldn't think of anything to say that would mean anything.

"What do you want to do?"

"I don't know. It's all so scary. I wasn't even thinking about us having a baby together yet. I was sort of okay with it just being the two of us and Alex. But I figured we would talk after we married and spent some time together."

He brought his voice down to a whisper. "But the worst part is it's not my baby. It's the offspring of the person I hate most in life, the person who hurt the woman I love, the person who has just furthered the destruction of our life, the person who is making me contemplate leaving her."

Abby was speechless at the sound of that. She was speaking at a whisper tone as well.

"Oh, Luka! You know you love her and Alex way too much to walk away. She needs you, now more then ever. So what if it's not your kid? Alex isn't yours, but you still love him to death, and he's crazy about you. You don't mean that last thing that you said, and I know it. You and I know each other really well, and I know you won't care that it's not yours. Not once you look at that beautiful face and know that you get to spend the next 20 years shaping this impressionable little person. I don't even have kids, but I know that's what makes it all worth it."

Luka smiled and stroked Abby's fingers with his own. "You are amazing, you know that? I didn't know what to do or where to turn, and in 10 minutes you put everything into prospective. Thank you Abby."

He kissed her cheek and got up to leave. "Hey before I go, can you come to Sam's place tonight, maybe have heart-to-heart with her?" "Yeah, Luka. I'd love to."

Later that evening Sam was up and around in the apartment. Sam and Luka planned to talk things out and then bring Alex home in the morning. They seemed better, talking, being open. Working together to figure out what to do. Sam wanted to get therapy to help her get through her post-rape depression and anxiety.

"Luka, I love you and I love Alex, and I love our life together, but I don't know if I really want to raise another child. Especially when I think about how that child came to be. I mean this is the most horrible thing that has ever happened to be, and this kid would be a constant reminder of that. I'm not sure I would be able to get past it. That's why I'm so eager to get counseling. I want us to make the best decision for us and this baby."

Luka hugged her and rubbed her back gingerly.

"I know," he kissed her cheek. "I know."

They continued to hold each other until there was a knock at the door.

"That's Abby. I thought she may be able to help us with our huge decision."

Sam nodded in agreement, and got up to open the door. "Hi Abby."

Abby smiled and hugged same in a friendly, caring way. "Are you doing okay?"

"Yeah, I'm much better then I was yesterday and even better then I was this morning. It's true, not talking makes things seem so much worse then they are. Who is this with you?"

"This is Dr. Nelson, from pysch at the hospital. When I was doing my pysch rotation back in the spring, we became friends, and he's doing me a friendly favor."

Sam smiled, and Abby gave a confessing and embarrassed blush to what her relationship with Nelson really was. Sam gave her a friendly punch in the arm. "Friends, huh? Well at least you have broadened your romantic horizons to outside the ER." They laughed and Abby and Dr. Nelson came in and sat down.


End file.
